wessman
September 12th, 2002, 05:33 PM
E-mail a weapon in file-swap fight
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 12, 2002, 4:08 PM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-957779.html
Hoping for a repeat of Napster's legal flame-out, the record and movie trade associations are using file-swapping company executives' own words against them in the attempt to close the Kazaa and Morpheus networks.
In court documents filed Monday, but kept under seal until Thursday, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America use internal e-mails, message board postings, and interviews with executives in hopes of persuading a federal judge to shut the networks down. The trade associations are asking for summary judgment, or a quick end to the case before going to trial, against file-swapping companies StreamCast Networks, Grokster and Sharman Networks.
"The uncontroverted facts all point to the inescapable conclusion: Defendants' systems were designed and intended first to emulate Napster and then to surpass it," the trade associations wrote in their legal brief, which remained under seal until Thursday. They "have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams."
The trade associations' 67-page legal brief provides the first details of exactly what the latest file-swapping legal wars will be fought over. At their core, the legal issues are the same ones that appeared in Napster's case--but the judge in this case will be ruling on a very different set of circumstances, technologies and internal communications.
Indeed, the two sides at this point are struggling to define what the case is about. StreamCast and the other file-swappers want the focus of the case to be about the legality of peer-to-peer software, a technology that certainly has many other uses beyond copyright infringement. The record labels and movie studios are trying to narrow the case, seeking to prove that the companies involved deliberately built their business to take advantage of widespread piracy.
As with Napster, record and movie companies are seeking to prove that the file-swapping companies knew of the widespread copyright infringement going on using their networks and that they had the ability to stop it.
The groups draw from the file-swapping companies' internal communications, along with Web site text, sales pitches and advertisements, as evidence that the companies created their networks with the intention of facilitating piracy. Individual employees for StreamCast Networks (originally called Music City) acknowledged downloading copyrighted works by Billie Holliday and Britney Spears and used screen shots showing copyrighted works to demonstrate their system, the trade associations say.
Picking up where Napster left off?
The brief cites Morpheus parent StreamCast Networks' (then called Music City) former CEO telling a board member that their software would be "the logical choice to pick up the bulk of the 74 million users that are about to 'turn Napster off.'"
The record labels and movie studios also cite communications between Music City and Kazaa BV, the company that created the file-swapping technology, that show both companies were thinking about trying to figure out ways to monitor trades of individual files.
"The activity we want to monitor if possible are the files that that users download, so that we can track copyrighted material for royalties," an unnamed Music City representative is quoted as saying in one exchange. Details about whether this exchange was e-mail, chat or another medium are not given.
"OK," responds an unnamed Kazaa representative. "As I've mentioned we've designed a system for this, but it's not yet implemented. It could be quickly, however."
Attorneys for Streamcast Networks say this exchange, and other bits of evidence like it, mean little. Neither Music City nor any other software company is required to build in specific copyright protection features simply because the capability exists, they say.
"Owning copyrights doesn't give you the right to dictate to people how to build their products," said Fred von Lohmann, an Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney who is representing Streamcast. "If that were the rule, it would make Microsoft, with Internet Explorer and Outlook, an infringer. It would make virtually every software company liable for copyright infringement."
The trade associations' brief goes into specific technological details about the file-swapping software, trying to show that the peer-to-peer companies had a direct role in maintaining the networks, instead of simply distributing software. However, the documents lump all the file-swapping companies together, making it difficult to discern exactly which company had which alleged role in building and maintaining the networks.
The evidence now beginning to filter out into the public eye will reach court Dec. 2, when a federal judge in Los Angeles will hear each side argue that the case should be brought to an immediate close.
Internet Vigilante Justice, SPAM, and Copyrights |
| from the stuff-to-think-about dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday September 11, @10:16 (news) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/147208 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]pdw writes "[1]An interesting article about how vigilante justice on
the Internet by anti-spam advocates can be just as threatening to the
Internet [2]as those proposed for copyright advocates."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/11/147208
Links:
0. http://www.weinstein.org
1. http://www.newarchitectmag.com/documents/s=2442/na0802g/index.html
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/25/2258231&tid=141
Yet Another Look at CD Sales |
| from the blowing-smoke dept. |
| posted by michael on Wednesday September 11, @13:38 (music) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/1543237 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
citizenkeller writes "[0]Dan Bricklin, of VisiCalc fame, has published a
very interesting essay on [1]"CD sales, downloading, and burning". In his
own words: 'Given the slight dip in CD sales despite so many reasons for
there to be a much larger drop, it seems that the effect of downloading,
burning, and sharing is one of the few bright lights helping the music
industry with their most loyal customers. Perhaps the real reason for
some of the drop in sales was the shutdown of Napster and other
crackdowns by the music industry.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/11/1543237
Links:
0. http://www.bricklin.com/
1. http://www.bricklin.com/recordsales.htm
Where The Bandwidth Goes |
| from the saturating-the-ether dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday September 11, @16:30 (internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/193251 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "An often overlooked fact about network
bandwidth utilization is that the bandwidth consumed on networks is more
than the sum of the data exchanged at the highest level; it’s
data+overhead+upkeep. In the early 90’s I worked for a large
multi-national company whose software engineering department had a
transatlantic x.25 circuit connection to it’s European engineering
headquarters. It was necessary that the connection be ‘on’ 24x7 due to
the spanning of a large number of time zones, disparate working hours and
tight contractual requirements. Very large data transfers were sometimes
operationally essential. But the financial people used to scream
constantly about the circuit costs (charged per packet, IIRC) of several
thousand dollars/month. The sys admin realized that if he just reduced
the frequency of keep-alives, he could shave something like 10% off the
monthly bill. This article points out that p2p applications are
[0]greater bandwidth hogs than one might think because of the foregoing
and more – they also search, accept pushed advertising and do other
transactions that are transparent to most users, but add up. I doubt that
developers of those free p2p applications have gave much thought to
efficiency. This will be no surprise to many of you, but helps explain
why ISP’s rushing to put caps on transfers."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/11/193251
Links:
0. http://rtnews.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/tech/RTGAM/20020906/gtcybsept6/Technology/techBN/
'Harry Potter' Offered (Legitimately) on the Net |
| from the step-in-the-right-direction dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday September 10, @08:26 (movies) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/10/1217220 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Skyshadow writes "Warner Brothers is [0]distributing several movies,
including [1]Harry Potter and [2]Mars Attacks via the internet. The price
is the same as I pay for Pay-Per-View from my satellite provider ($3.99
for a 24 license), and the movies are in the area of 700 megs. I'm sure
that movies on demand will eventually take off as a legitimate and
feasible distribution method, but given that a vast majority of US
households are without broadband, is this an idea before its time?"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/10/1217220
Links:
0. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4037936.htm
1. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0241527
2. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0116996
:sw
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 12, 2002, 4:08 PM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-957779.html
Hoping for a repeat of Napster's legal flame-out, the record and movie trade associations are using file-swapping company executives' own words against them in the attempt to close the Kazaa and Morpheus networks.
In court documents filed Monday, but kept under seal until Thursday, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America use internal e-mails, message board postings, and interviews with executives in hopes of persuading a federal judge to shut the networks down. The trade associations are asking for summary judgment, or a quick end to the case before going to trial, against file-swapping companies StreamCast Networks, Grokster and Sharman Networks.
"The uncontroverted facts all point to the inescapable conclusion: Defendants' systems were designed and intended first to emulate Napster and then to surpass it," the trade associations wrote in their legal brief, which remained under seal until Thursday. They "have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams."
The trade associations' 67-page legal brief provides the first details of exactly what the latest file-swapping legal wars will be fought over. At their core, the legal issues are the same ones that appeared in Napster's case--but the judge in this case will be ruling on a very different set of circumstances, technologies and internal communications.
Indeed, the two sides at this point are struggling to define what the case is about. StreamCast and the other file-swappers want the focus of the case to be about the legality of peer-to-peer software, a technology that certainly has many other uses beyond copyright infringement. The record labels and movie studios are trying to narrow the case, seeking to prove that the companies involved deliberately built their business to take advantage of widespread piracy.
As with Napster, record and movie companies are seeking to prove that the file-swapping companies knew of the widespread copyright infringement going on using their networks and that they had the ability to stop it.
The groups draw from the file-swapping companies' internal communications, along with Web site text, sales pitches and advertisements, as evidence that the companies created their networks with the intention of facilitating piracy. Individual employees for StreamCast Networks (originally called Music City) acknowledged downloading copyrighted works by Billie Holliday and Britney Spears and used screen shots showing copyrighted works to demonstrate their system, the trade associations say.
Picking up where Napster left off?
The brief cites Morpheus parent StreamCast Networks' (then called Music City) former CEO telling a board member that their software would be "the logical choice to pick up the bulk of the 74 million users that are about to 'turn Napster off.'"
The record labels and movie studios also cite communications between Music City and Kazaa BV, the company that created the file-swapping technology, that show both companies were thinking about trying to figure out ways to monitor trades of individual files.
"The activity we want to monitor if possible are the files that that users download, so that we can track copyrighted material for royalties," an unnamed Music City representative is quoted as saying in one exchange. Details about whether this exchange was e-mail, chat or another medium are not given.
"OK," responds an unnamed Kazaa representative. "As I've mentioned we've designed a system for this, but it's not yet implemented. It could be quickly, however."
Attorneys for Streamcast Networks say this exchange, and other bits of evidence like it, mean little. Neither Music City nor any other software company is required to build in specific copyright protection features simply because the capability exists, they say.
"Owning copyrights doesn't give you the right to dictate to people how to build their products," said Fred von Lohmann, an Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney who is representing Streamcast. "If that were the rule, it would make Microsoft, with Internet Explorer and Outlook, an infringer. It would make virtually every software company liable for copyright infringement."
The trade associations' brief goes into specific technological details about the file-swapping software, trying to show that the peer-to-peer companies had a direct role in maintaining the networks, instead of simply distributing software. However, the documents lump all the file-swapping companies together, making it difficult to discern exactly which company had which alleged role in building and maintaining the networks.
The evidence now beginning to filter out into the public eye will reach court Dec. 2, when a federal judge in Los Angeles will hear each side argue that the case should be brought to an immediate close.
Internet Vigilante Justice, SPAM, and Copyrights |
| from the stuff-to-think-about dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday September 11, @10:16 (news) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/147208 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]pdw writes "[1]An interesting article about how vigilante justice on
the Internet by anti-spam advocates can be just as threatening to the
Internet [2]as those proposed for copyright advocates."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/11/147208
Links:
0. http://www.weinstein.org
1. http://www.newarchitectmag.com/documents/s=2442/na0802g/index.html
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/25/2258231&tid=141
Yet Another Look at CD Sales |
| from the blowing-smoke dept. |
| posted by michael on Wednesday September 11, @13:38 (music) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/1543237 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
citizenkeller writes "[0]Dan Bricklin, of VisiCalc fame, has published a
very interesting essay on [1]"CD sales, downloading, and burning". In his
own words: 'Given the slight dip in CD sales despite so many reasons for
there to be a much larger drop, it seems that the effect of downloading,
burning, and sharing is one of the few bright lights helping the music
industry with their most loyal customers. Perhaps the real reason for
some of the drop in sales was the shutdown of Napster and other
crackdowns by the music industry.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/11/1543237
Links:
0. http://www.bricklin.com/
1. http://www.bricklin.com/recordsales.htm
Where The Bandwidth Goes |
| from the saturating-the-ether dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday September 11, @16:30 (internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/11/193251 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "An often overlooked fact about network
bandwidth utilization is that the bandwidth consumed on networks is more
than the sum of the data exchanged at the highest level; it’s
data+overhead+upkeep. In the early 90’s I worked for a large
multi-national company whose software engineering department had a
transatlantic x.25 circuit connection to it’s European engineering
headquarters. It was necessary that the connection be ‘on’ 24x7 due to
the spanning of a large number of time zones, disparate working hours and
tight contractual requirements. Very large data transfers were sometimes
operationally essential. But the financial people used to scream
constantly about the circuit costs (charged per packet, IIRC) of several
thousand dollars/month. The sys admin realized that if he just reduced
the frequency of keep-alives, he could shave something like 10% off the
monthly bill. This article points out that p2p applications are
[0]greater bandwidth hogs than one might think because of the foregoing
and more – they also search, accept pushed advertising and do other
transactions that are transparent to most users, but add up. I doubt that
developers of those free p2p applications have gave much thought to
efficiency. This will be no surprise to many of you, but helps explain
why ISP’s rushing to put caps on transfers."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/11/193251
Links:
0. http://rtnews.globetechnology.com/servlet/ArticleNews/tech/RTGAM/20020906/gtcybsept6/Technology/techBN/
'Harry Potter' Offered (Legitimately) on the Net |
| from the step-in-the-right-direction dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday September 10, @08:26 (movies) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/10/1217220 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Skyshadow writes "Warner Brothers is [0]distributing several movies,
including [1]Harry Potter and [2]Mars Attacks via the internet. The price
is the same as I pay for Pay-Per-View from my satellite provider ($3.99
for a 24 license), and the movies are in the area of 700 megs. I'm sure
that movies on demand will eventually take off as a legitimate and
feasible distribution method, but given that a vast majority of US
households are without broadband, is this an idea before its time?"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/10/1217220
Links:
0. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4037936.htm
1. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0241527
2. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0116996
:sw